This tasty and colorful low calorie appetizer consists of a simple to make Italian chopped salad mounded into cooked pasta shells.  You can prep everything the night before and then added the dressing and stuff the shells an hour before your guests arrive.  They’re easy enough to pop right in your mouth but some might want it served on a small plate with a fork and knife.  The skinny for one shell is 73 calories, 2.6 grams fat and 2 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. Try this delightful appetizer at your next party, game day or make them for the family to enjoy.  Watch them quickly disappear too!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup Cardini’s Light Caesar Vinaigrette Dressing refrigerated,  see shopping tip

24 jumbo pasta shells (~ 8 ounces)

1 bag romaine lettuce, chopped into small pieces

1¼ cups cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in fourths

1 cup cucumbers, peeled and chopped

⅔ cup reduced-fat salami, chopped, see shopping tip

⅔ cup (about 20) Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced into pieces

½ cup garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Cook the shells according to package directions (al dente). Rinse in cold water.

2. In a large bowl, add all salad ingredients.

4. Start with ½ cup dressing and toss lightly.  Stuff each cooked shell.

Makes 24 shells

Shopping Tip
I really love Cardini’s Light Caesar Vinaigrette.  It’s one of the better tasting store-bought bottled dressings.  It’s sold in most large supermarket chains in the salad dressing aisle.  I found it at Von’s/Safeway and Gelsons.

My favorite light salami is a brand called, Columbus Lite Italian Dry Salami.  You’ll most likely find it in the deli section of the supermarket.  There are other brands available in the luncheon meat section of the supermarket.

Serving Tip
You can stuff this chopped salad in endive leaves instead of the pasta shells or serve just the salad as a first course.

Weight Watchers (old points) 1
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 2

This entry was posted Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at 6:43 am and is filed under Recent, Recipes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.